KFC draws China customers despite excess antibiotic food scare

This file photo shows a woman walking past a KFC restaurant in Wuhan, Hubei province on Dec 18, 2012. Chinese customers of KFC, the biggest fast food chain in the country, said on Wednesday, Jan 9, 2013, they would still patronise it despite a government food safety investigation which has hit sales. -- PHOTO: REUTERS

SHANGHAI (AFP) - Chinese customers of KFC, the biggest fast food chain in the country, said on Wednesday they would still patronise it despite a government food safety investigation which has hit sales.

US-based Yum! Brands Inc., whose portfolio includes KFC and Pizza Hut, said this week that sales in its key China market were forecast to fall more than expected in the fourth quarter in the wake of the probe into excess antibiotic levels in chickens.

Yum's New York-listed stock fell 4.2 per cent on Tuesday after the news.

China's commercial hub of Shanghai and the northern province of Shanxi said last month that they were investigating KFC suppliers over claims of high levels of antibiotics in chicken.